Navs’ Gallo signs with Washington

Peabody native and two-year Navigators pitcher Mike Gallo (Milligan) was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Washington Nationals over the weekend and has reported to Florida to play with the Gulf Coast League Nationals.

During his college season with Milligan in Tennessee, he threw for scouts, but was not selected in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. This spring, he had a 7-3 record with a 3.61 earned run average in 22 appearances as a senior.

He was on the way to Fort Myers, FL, for a workout with the Minnesota Twins when he received the call from the Nationals while he was sitting in the Charlotte, N.C., airport.

Gallo has pitched in two games for the GCL Nats, allowing four hits over five innings, while striking out four.

In the next few weeks, Gallo hopes to be promoted to the Vermont Lake Monsters, short season affiliate, where he could make a homecoming appearance against their Stedler Division rivals, the Lowell Spinners.

Minors: Strasburg impresses in Triple-A debut; McCoy next

Pitching phenom Steven Strasburg debuted in Triple-A with the Syracuse Chiefs on Friday. (Glenn Gaston)

In his first game at Triple-A, 2009 top draft pick Steven Strasburg logged six shutout innings to lead the Syracuse Chiefs (Nationals) to a 7-0 win over the Gwinnett Braves Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,766 at Alliance Bank Stadium. He allowed just one walk and struck out six, while his fastball topped out at 95 miles per hour in the stadium.

Before being promoted to Syracuse, he went 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA in five starts/22 innings for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators.

If he follows a five-day rotation, his next scheduled outing would be Wednesday night against the Norfolk Tides (Orioles) and then all signs point that Strasburg will possibly make his final rehab start against Pawtucket at McCoy Stadium on Monday, May 17.

Sox Summary: Homeward bound!

After using the home run ball to power them to a 6-1 over the Washington Nationals on Sunday in the District of Columbia, the Red Sox are ready for the Yankees on Opening Night Sunday.

Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew were the leaders of the offense as they combined to drive in half of Boston’s runs via the home run. Youkilis and newcomer Bill Hall each drove in two runs in the win.

Ryan Zimmerman was 1-for-2, with an RBI in the defeat for the Nats.

Tim Wakefield got the win, pitching four innings and allowing just three hits. He was followed by Daiuske Matsuzaka, who also tossed four frames of two-hit and one-run baseball.

The Red Sox finish the spring season with a 17-14-1 record and will open the regular season on Sunday night against the New York Yankees. Josh Beckett will face C.C. Sabathia in a marquee pitching matchup that will be televised to am national audience on ESPN.

Friday’s Sox-Nationals lineups

Today, the Red Sox begin a home-and-home series against the Washington Nationals with their final game at City of Palms Park in 2010.

The teams meet again at 4 p.m. tomorrow from Nationals Park in Washington. Immediately following today’s game, the Red Sox will head north to our nation’s capital for tomorrow’s final tune-up.

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Cameron CF
Marco Scutaro SS

Pitching: RHP Clay Buchholz.

NATIONALS
Nyjer Morgan DH
Willie Harris RF
Cristian Guzman 2B
Mike Morse 1B
Roger Bernadina LF
Alberto Gonzalez 2B
Wil Nieves C
Eric Bruntlett SS
Willy Tavares CF

Pitching: LHP Scott Olsen.